Crew, Fire play to scoreless tie

Aug 5, 2007 - 4:20 AM
BRIDGEVIEW, Illinois (Ticker) -- Neither team could gain the
advantage as the Chicago Fire and Columbus Crew played to a 0-0
tie on Saturday.

The game was a defensive struggle as both teams' physical play
contributed to 38 fouls and six yellow cards being called.

"Defensively, I think for the second game in a row, we limited
the opposition to very few chances," Chicago coach Juan Carlos
Osorio said. "Offensively, I have to be critical to my players
and say we have to be more effective with our chances."

"In the first half, I thought we defended a little bit more than
we liked. In the second half I thought we did a better job at
knocking the ball around," Schmid said. "We had some pretty
clean chances in the game. It was a hard-fought game."

Chicago made three substitutions in the final 22 minutes,
bringing in Andy Herron, Chris Rolfe and Diego Gutierrez.
However, the moves did not result in a goal as each team gained
just one point in the standings.

Newly acquired Paulo Wanchope made his Fire debut when he
entered the game in the 57th minute for Chad Barrett. Wanchope
is second all-time in goals (45) for the Costa Rica National
Team and should add offense for Chicago, which is second to last
in the league in goals scored with 16.

Matt Pickens made four saves for Chicago while Will Hesmer made
three saves for Columbus. The Fire outshot the Crew, 11-8.

Chicago forward Cuauhtemoc Blanco made pinpoint passes to set up
scoring opportunities, including one to a streaking Wanchope in
the 85th minute. Hesmer, though, came up big and made the save
to squander the best chance of the game.

"They played me physical but that's to be expected," said
Blanco, the former Mexican star playing in just his second game
with the Fire. "It's the nature of the game. But the referees
have to watch that style of play."

Columbus (6-5-8, 26 points) is in fourth place in the Eastern
Conference standings. Chicago (5-8-5, 20 points) is just one
point ahead of last place Toronto FC.